Imaginary
by XxVampire27AngelxX
Summary: Naruto is roomed with Sasuke Uchiha at Konoha Behavioural Health Hospital. Sasuke's brother is a serial killer in doctor disguise, just waiting to kill off the last Uchiha. What will happen when Itachi's gang, Akatsuki, find out about Naruto? SasuNaru.
1. Prologue

Plot: Naruto is roomed with Sasuke Uchiha at Konoha Behavioural Health Hospital. Sasuke's brother is a serial killer in doctor disguise, just waiting to kill off the last Uchiha. What will happen when Itachi's gang, Akatsuki, find out about Naruto? SasuNaru.

Warning: None yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated. Only the idea for this story is mine.

Inspiration: The piano version of Imaginary, by Evanescence, along with the lyrics that accompany the original.

Music Link: http : / / www. youtube. com / watch?v=cWrSjlqZ3y0&feature=related

A/N: I've been searching for a storyline for a long time now, and I finally came up with one. I think it'll go really well as long as I keep up with it. Please review and let me know what you think!

* * *

**_Imaginary ~ Prologue_**

* * *

_PART ONE_

* * *

_I linger in the doorway,_

_Of alarm clock screaming monsters calling my name._

_Let me stay,_

_Where the wind will whisper to me._

_Where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story._

_In my field of paper flowers,_

_And candy clouds of lullaby..._

_I lay inside myself for hours,_

_And watch my purple sky fly over me._

* * *

The sound of an ambulance screeching filled the night air. Inside was another patient being committed to Konoha Behavioural Health Hospital. Just another one of the countless teenagers that were sent there every time there was an open bed. Konoha Behavioural Health Hospital had three units—the adult unit, the acute unit (for the more serious adult patients), and the children unit. The children unit consisted of both children and adolescents, though it was mostly populated by kids in their teens. And the problems were almost always the same—suicidal tendencies, cutting, burning, poisoning, drugs . . . . Rarely were there ever _serious_ patients, with real issues. Most of them either attempted suicide and regretted it, or were addicted to some type of drug.

Naruto Uzumaki—the one currently strapped to the ambulance bed—was a rarer case. He was none of those things; he never self-harmed in any way (unless you count getting bad grades). No, his problem was hurting others. Not intentionally (he claims), but it could not be ignored that he had put three students in the hospital in as many days. All of them on the brink of death. Yet, he ended up without a scratch.

"So why do I have to be strapped down to this thing?"

Clear, blue eyes looked impatiently at the nurse sitting beside him. She didn't glance up from her work, just muttered, "Because it's procedure."

"But I'm not dangerous," Naruto pressed.

The nurse looked up at him, an annoyed expression crossing her face. "You sent three people to the emergency room," she pointed out. "You are dangerous." As Naruto opened his mouth to protest, she continued, "And even if you weren't, everyone is transported here in this way. It's _procedure._" Looking down at her work again, the nurse made it clear she wouldn't answer any more questions.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Naruto took the time to think back on things, since the nurse wasn't fun to talk to. Honestly, he didn't think he deserved to go to a mental hospital. He was a perfectly happy kid. Ask anyone who knew him, he was cheerful and optimistic all the time. Mental hospitals were for emo people—not kids like Naruto. Sure, he had beat some kids up, but they were asking for it! It wasn't like it was his fault anyway; something just took over him.

That was probably the only thing about almost killing those boys that troubled him.

When he'd voiced this to the counselors that had assigned him to the hospital, they told him he was possibly bipolar. Bipolar, or he just had insane anger issues. Regardless, he was sent to the mental hospital, no matter what he said. His guardian, Tsunade, had also fought for him, but even she couldn't persuade them otherwise.

Soon, they arrived at the mental hospital, and Naruto was rolled out of the ambulance. As soon as he was released, Naruto jumped off the bed, and ran over to the counter. "Hey, hey!" he said, wrapping on the receptionist's window. She opened the window and gave him a questioning look. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm supposed to be staying here."

"Ah, yes, Naruto," she said with a smile. The receptionist rifled through some papers, and pulled one out with Naruto's name at the top of it. "They did all the paperwork at the other hospital, right?" Naruto nodded. "Good, then all you need to do is show the people at the Children Unit this paper, and they'll show you your room." She handed him the paper through the thin slot in the window.

Naruto took it and scanned over it. It was a small piece of paper, with all the basic information in it. It read:

_Name: Naruto Uzumaki_

_Age: 16_

_Birthday: 10/10_

_Height: 5'9_

_Admitted For: Getting into fights at school. Possible bipolar. Currently under investigation. _

Making a face, Naruto scrunched up the paper and muttered a quick thanks to the receptionist. Without bothering to say goodbye to the ambulance people, he made his way across the room to the door that would lead him to the Children Unit. He wasn't too sure how he felt about the "under investigation" part. Did that mean they would be researching his past? Would they interrogate him? Were the police involved? Naruto didn't know much about how these things worked, but he knew sure as hell he didn't want the police involved. Police only spelled trouble, if he took his friends' words for it.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto opened the door, and walked through it. He was met with blank, white walls—everywhere. The space was very open. All along the left wall were doors that he assumed led to rooms. On the right side, closest to where he was, were tables and chairs, several doors that had names on them. Further down, there was a large, circular area that resembled a stretched out version of the receptionist's desk. The top part was made of glass, and behind the counter (or whatever it was), there were people working. Before Naruto got a chance to look at the rest of the room, a man with silver, spiky hair came up to greet him.

"May I help you?" he asked, giving Naruto a look-over.

"Oh! Um, hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto said brightly, giving the man a grin. He held out the paper the receptionist gave him and waited for the man to read over it.

"Right," the man said slowly. "I'm Dr. Kakashi Hatake, and I'll be your psychiatrist. I'll only see you once a day, but since the techs are busy, I'll go ahead and lead you to your room." Dr. Hatake started walking away briskly, toward the far end of the room. Naruto followed, trying not to feel nervous. What would his roommate be like? Why was no one outside? All he saw was doctors and nurses and . . . techs? Was that the word the doctor used? Yeah. Where was everyone?

They stopped in front of the last door on the left, with the room number 21 on it. The doctor turned once more to face Naruto. "I'm sure you have many questions, but I'm afraid I am unable to answer them. You'll have to ask your roommate them."

Unthinkingly, Naruto blurted, "What's my roommate's name?" Okay, so it wasn't originally one of his questions, but it seemed pretty good now.

Dr. Hatake stared at Naruto, then said in a bored voice. "Sasuke Uchiha." Having said that, he turned on his heel and walked away. Naruto stared after him for a moment, then sighed and shifted his attention to the door.

Gulping, Naruto tentatively touched the doorknob, his heart pounding. It wasn't often that he was nervous, but this setting was foreign to him. For all he knew, this Sasuke Uchiha was a psychopathic homicidal person who would kill him in his sleep! Or maybe he was an emo, prissy, crybaby who couldn't stop hating his life. Or what if! What if this person was just a complete lunatic, and hallucinated and thought Naruto was his grandmother? Naruto was certain he didn't look old or like a female, but he couldn't take his chances.

_Maybe he'll be completely normal! Like me!_ He thought anxiously, still trying to make up his mind to open the door. Naruto bit his lip, and started to twist the doorknob. _Yeah, I bet he was put in here for some lame reason too_. Taking a deep breath, Naruto pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

Scanning the room, he knew immediately that there wasn't going to be much variety in this place. The walls were white—of course. The shelves embedded in one side of the room (the side closest to the door and Naruto) were also white, with a desk in between the two sets. Thankfully, the desk was brown—a normal colour for once. And the beds . . . white.

On the bed farthest from the door lay a pale boy with unruly black hair. He was laying on his back, his arms behind his head, and his eyes closed. Naruto could easily say that this boy was goodlooking without fearing being called gay. Just everything about this boy was perfect—his face held the flawless beauty that all girls talked about, and his body was just the same. Naruto's eyes trailed down the boy's figure, noticing how the pale skin contrasted with the dark clothing. And immediately, Naruto's hopes sunk. This guy was a human Adonis . . . and he wore all black. He wasn't normal at all.

Tearing his eyes away, Naruto shut the door quietly behind him. He walked over to Sasuke's bed and stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Should he wake his new roommate up? He didn't want to, but he needed to know what was going on, and what was going to happen. Naruto frowned a little, then poked Sasuke lightly on the shoulder.

Dark eyes snapped open, instantly stormy. Naruto felt a little guilty, knowing it was his fault Sasuke was now in a bad mood, but he had questions!

"Hey, uh, Sasuke, right?" he said nervously, staring down at the steadily darkening features. He started biting his lip again, a worried habit he'd developed since this whole mess started. Naruto was almost afraid Sasuke wouldn't answer him, when the raven-haired boy spoke.

"Who are you?" he asked bluntly.

Naruto grinned. "I'm your new roommate! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and you better believe it!"

Sasuke arched an elegant eyebrow. ". . . . Hn."

"So how long have you been in this place?" Naruto asked, grinning and sitting down on the bed across from Sasuke's. So far, so good. Even if Sasuke wasn't particularly talkative, he wasn't a total weirdo.

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a while, wondering if he should answer. If he answered, would the boy shut up? He didn't think so. But what if he didn't answer him? Would he continue to pester him? Shuddering at the thought, Sasuke replied, "A week."

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed, shock crossing his face. "That long? Don't we only stay here for like two days or something? Like a regular hospital?"

Sasuke snorted. "We're in a mental hospital—a psych ward."

"Oh." Naruto's face fell. He'd almost forgotten about that. His eyes dropped to the floor and he tried to stop the depression from coming. He'd been handling it pretty well, but when it was stated so bluntly that he was really in a mental hospital, a psych ward as Sasuke had put it, he couldn't help but feel sad and a little guilty. Willing the feelings away, Naruto lifted his eyes to meet Sasuke's again, forcing a smile to his face. "So what do we do here then?"

Sasuke sighed, and stared up at the ceiling. "We talk about our feelings," he said emotionlessly. "We go to group therapy . . . and really nothing else."

"Sounds . . . fun." Naruto wracked his brains for something to ask Sasuke. His brain had suddenly emptied of all the questions he'd had. "So what are you in here for?" Naruto watched Sasuke closely for a reaction, but there was none. He had half expected him to get angry, or hurt, or something. But Sasuke didn't react at all.

Right before Naruto opened his mouth to ask again, Sasuke said quietly, "For attempting suicide."

There was a slight tremour to Sasuke's voice, and though his body remained perfectly still, Naruto could tell that Sasuke was scared just thinking about it. And sad. There was a definite note of sadness to the Uchiha's voice. "Do you regret it?" Naruto asked softly, his eyes trained on the Uchiha.

At that moment, there was a knocking at the door. "Sasuke," a voice called. A woman peeked her head in through the door. "Dr. Itachi is waiting to see you."


	2. Chapter 1

Plot: Naruto is roomed with Sasuke Uchiha at Konoha Behavioural Health Hospital. Sasuke's brother is a serial killer in doctor disguise, just waiting to kill off the last Uchiha. What will happen when Itachi's gang, Akatsuki, find out about Naruto? SasuNaru.

Warning: None yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated. Only the idea for this story is mine.

Inspiration: The piano version of Imaginary, by Evanescence, along with the lyrics that accompany the original.

Music Link: http : / / www. youtube. com / watch?v=cWrSjlqZ3y0&feature=related

A/N: I meant to update this last week, but things didn't quite work out that way... I also meant to update last night, but that didn't work out either. Thankfully, I managed to finish the chapter tonight! =D It's shorter than originally intended, and the end lacks emotion, I think, but... yeah. I just really wanted to update tonight. Plus, it might take a while for Sasuke and Naruto to develop a relationship. Sorry that might take a while, but some things need to play out first.

Thank you all who reviewed and subscribed to this! It makes me so happy! And motivated! I hope you enjoy the update! I worked extra hard to get it out this weekend for you guys!

* * *

_**Imaginary ~ Chapter One**_

* * *

_PART ONE_

* * *

**I linger in the doorway,**

_Of alarm clock screaming monsters calling my name._

_Let me stay,_

_Where the wind will whisper to me._

_Where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story._

_In my field of paper flowers,_

_And candy clouds of lullaby..._

_I lay inside myself for hours,_

_And watch my purple sky fly over me._

* * *

_At that moment, there was a knocking at the door. "Sasuke," a voice called. A woman peeked her head in through the door. "Dr. Itachi is waiting to see you."_

Sasuke stiffened, his eyes going slowly to meet the nurse's. Briefly, she held his gaze, before lowering her eyes. "You should hurry," she said quietly, before turning away and letting the door shut behind her. Sasuke stared at the door a little while longer, feeling his chest tighten. _Itachi?_ What was he doing here?

Without his realization, tears came to his eyes. After all this, Itachi still had to show up. Even if he could have made progress here, and learned to forget his parents' deaths, there was no chance of that now. Itachi, the murderer of his family, had followed him. And for what reason? Was it just to make Sasuke's life worse than he'd already made it? Did Itachi just want to torture him? Was that the reason he'd saved Sasuke three nights ago? It wasn't out of love, that was for sure.

All Sasuke's life, Itachi had lied to him. He had been the best brother Sasuke could ever ask for, had been everything Sasuke dreamed of—his idol! Sasuke grew up admiring his elder brother, aspiring to be just as hard working, just as praised. Itachi had been the best thing that ever happened to him, and now, he was the worst. All that Sasuke's worked to be seemed just a waste now. Not because he wasn't proud of where he'd gotten, but because it'd all been in Itachi's image. Disgust was the only thing Sasuke felt for himself at this point.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Sasuke jumped, startled. Cautiously, and ever-so-slowly, he let his gaze fall upon Naruto. Bright blue eyes stared concernedly back at him. For some reason, this made Sasuke feel even worse. What he saw in those eyes was pity. A pity that he resented, and hated. He didn't need anyone to pity him, or worry for him. It was none of their concern. "I'm fine," he bit out, before rising and stalking toward the door.

A small part of him felt guilty for snapping at Naruto, but he squashed the feeling immediately. He couldn't afford to care about what other people thought or what they felt. Nothing they go through could ever compare to what he's already gone through. They'll never know what it's like, and because of that, Sasuke won't stand for their sympathy.

Ignoring the feel of those blue eyes staring at his back, Sasuke quickly made his way out the door, slamming it shut behind him. The heavy metal door made a loud thud that resonated throughout the entire space. Many eyes turned to stare at him, but these too, Sasuke ignored. His only intention was finding out what the hell his brother was doing here, and how he'd made it into the hospital. As far as Sasuke knew, his brother had never earned a doctor's certificate. And Sasuke was fairly sure Itachi had never taken any medical classes.

The tears were still present in his eyes, but Sasuke didn't let them fall. No way would he give Itachi that satisfaction. Swallowing hard, he willed them away, determined to show only his hate to Itachi. That was all Itachi would ever deserve. Sasuke's hatred. One day, if he still lived, Sasuke would get his revenge on Itachi. Until then, there was nothing he could do except make sure Itachi never saw what he'd put him through. Never would Itachi see him break again.

Confidence regained, and tears disappeared, Sasuke steeled himself as he knocked on the cold white door to Itachi's new office. Dimly, the sounds of chatter from the other patients reached his ears, and out of the corner of his eyes he could see white walls everywhere. But everything was a blur to him; just background noise. Sasuke focused his vision on the white door in front of him, and trained his ears on the footsteps approaching it. His attention could only be given to Itachi now. No more distractions.

Too soon, the door swung open, and the smirking face of his brother came into view. "Ototou," Itachi greeted, flashing Sasuke a kind smile. However, his eyes spoke the opposite of his mouth. Itachi's eyes were black, cold, and hard. They held nothing but malice. Sasuke faltered under the harsh stare of his brother, averting his eyes even as shame overtook him.

Repressing a shudder, Sasuke pushed his brother aside and made his way inside the room. Taking a few deep breaths, he attempted to regain his nerve. He could not be weak in front of his brother! Throwing caution to the wind, Sasuke snapped his head up, his own eyes turned to stone. "What are you doing here?" he spat.

To Sasuke's utmost anger, Itachi chuckled. "Really, otouto, you are not that dumb. Why else would I be here? I'm a doctor, of course." He gave Sasuke a patronizing smile and shut the door softly before returning to his seat. "Please, take a seat." He motioned toward the chair opposite him.

Stiffly, Sasuke sat down in the offered chair. It was a little too close to Itachi for his liking, but there wasn't much he could do about it. The room was really too small for him to move elsewhere. Deciding for the moment not to complain, Sasuke wasted no time in shouting at Itachi. "You're not a fucking doctor!" he yelled, clenching his fists. "Why are you here? How did you get in here?"

Sasuke's breath came in shallow pants, his breathing accelerated. His brother was acting like this was nothing, and it both terrified and frustrated him. Itachi made him feel so inferior, so worthless. Sasuke was nothing but a child, and Itachi made this so painstakingly obvious. He glared pitifully at Itachi, his bangs falling across his eyes and further weakening the affect of the glare. Itachi stared back, no expression written on his face.

Finally, Sasuke's head dropped, and he stared at his hands folded tightly in his lap. "Now that you have calmed down," Itachi started speaking, and Sasuke could almost hear the smirk in his voice, "I would like to discuss with you what type of medicines would benefit you." Sasuke's head snapped up, and he stared at Itachi in disbelief. Medicine? "Dr. Hatake recommended Lamyctal, or Zoloft for you. But I have a different idea."

"I'm not crazy," Sasuke breathed, trying to keep the panic from entering his voice. Itachi knew he didn't need medicine. He knew why Sasuke was depressed! He knew why Sasuke had tried to kill himself! Sasuke felt like he was choking as he watched his brother sift through some papers (presumably about him). Why was Itachi doing this? Wasn't killing their parents in front of him bad enough? Did he have to continue to make his life miserable? Despite Sasuke's protests, tears once again came to his eyes. "Aniki," he whispered.

Itachi looked up, his eyes meeting Sasuke's. Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone too soon for Sasuke to tell what it was. Had it been remorse? Anger? Regret? Itachi looked away, and pulled out the paper he'd been looking for. He continued speaking, as if he hadn't heard Sasuke. "You seem a little angry today, Sasuke. A little explosive." He glanced toward Sasuke, his voice devoid of emotion once more. "So I was thinking of maybe a drug that will subdue you? Lithium looks good."

Sasuke swallowed. "Wh-what does Lithium do?" he stammered.

"It's a mood stabilizer," Itachi informed him. "It's also used as an anti-depressant, apparently. It's supposed to keep your mood the same all the time. Many patients complain of sleepiness, dehydration, and 'zombie-like' symptoms."

"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke whispered.

Itachi stared at Sasuke for one long moment, staring into his brother's tear-filled eyes. But, like the pro he was at this, he left his face unreadable. "Because you need to be taken care of," he said flatly. "I can't have you keep wasting my time. You know I'm busy. If this is the only thing that will keep you under control, then this is what I have to do."

Sasuke opened his mouth to question him, but Itachi cut him off. "That's it for today, Sasuke. We'll start you off with fifty milligrams. We'll up the dose to a hundred tomorrow. You should be able to handle it." Itachi turned away from Sasuke and started writing on one of the many papers scattered on his desk. "You're dismissed."

Sasuke sat frozen in his seat for a few moments, staring numbly at Itachi. He watched his brother write, trying to believe he wasn't here. Trying to believe he was young again, and he was watching Itachi do his homework. But no matter how many times he blinked, no matter how many times he squeezed his eyes shut and reopened them, this image didn't go away. Itachi, his beloved brother, was really writing up a prescription for him.

This was _real._

Tears blurring his vision, Sasuke stood up swiftly, repressing the sobs that threaten to overtake his body. He stumbled to the door and wrenched it open. He looked one last time back at Itachi, and for one moment, with his vision clouded, he could really believe Itachi was sitting at his desk back home. If he just focused on Itachi now, and ignored all the white around the edges, Sasuke could almost believe that this wasn't real. That this was all make-believe. That his brother wasn't sentencing him to becoming a lifeless shell of himself.

A tear slid down Sasuke's cheek, giving way to dozens of others that came crashing down. With a strangled sob, Sasuke slammed the door shut and began walking away. This time, he didn't see anything, or hear anything. The world was spinning, ringing, mocking him. Blindly, Sasuke made his way to his room, down the hall, past the giant space where the others were. If they called out to him, he didn't hear them.

At last, Sasuke made it to his room. Just barely managing to close the door, he threw himself on his bed, unleashing the sobs.

This wasn't a dream. His parents were dead, his brother was a maniac, he was in a mental hospital, he was about to be force-fed drugs. When he'd attempted suicide, he'd tried to convince himself that it wasn't real. That it was all a dream, and that the only way to wake up from it was to kill himself. Because whenever you die in a dream, you wake up. If he just did that, everything could go back to normal. He'd wake up to find that he'd somehow hit his head and ended up in a coma.

But life didn't work that way. Living in a delusion, making fake answers for problems, never help anything. Sasuke learned that the hard way. It was time to face reality. But honestly, he wasn't sure he could do that. How could he face the truth? Why would he want to face the truth? If he just went insane, he could stay here a long time, and get away from Itachi. Just because Itachi was a doctor here now didn't mean he would be forever. Like Itachi had said, he couldn't have Sasuke wasting his time anymore.

Then why?

If Itachi couldn't have his time wasted, what was he doing here now? Why did he need to personally prescribe Sasuke the drugs when he could have had the doctors do it? What business did Itachi have here besides "taking care of" Sasuke? There was more to it. There had to be.

Sniffling, Sasuke brought himself back to the present. He stared blankly at his pillow, wet with his tears. Was this what they'd come to? Their relationship had been so strong. Itachi and Sasuke. They'd been perfect brothers; so close, so happy. What had gone wrong? Was it something Sasuke had done? He didn't understand. Nothing was wrong, and then one night, everything changed.

Sasuke came home to find his parents tied together with Itachi standing over them. They were in the hallway, directly in front of the door, so there would be no chance of Sasuke missing it. After that, Sasuke couldn't remember much. He remembered screaming, seeing blood splatter. But nothing else. The rest was black.

A soft knocking sounded at the door.

Sasuke turned his head toward the door, wondering if it would be the nurse again, coming this time to give him his medicine. "Who is it?" he called hoarsely.

It wasn't the nurse that came in, but Naruto. The orange-clad boy shut the door gently behind him before turning to look at Sasuke. He had noticed the tears before, when Sasuke had come out of his meeting with Itachi, but up close, it was so much worse. Sasuke avoided Naruto's eyes, shifting uncomfortably. He felt like asking Naruto what he wanted, but that might be stupid. After all, this was Naruto's room now, too. He could have just come in here to change into pajamas.

"Hey," Naruto said uncertainly, walking the few steps over to Sasuke's bed. He stood over him for a moment, trying to decide on what to do. After some thought, Naruto took a seat on his own bed. It wasn't so far away from Sasuke, and there was no room on the other boy's bed anyway.

"Do you need something?" Sasuke asked. His voice was muffled by the pillow.

"Well, no," Naruto admitted. "But um, it's bedtime for me I guess. It's nine o'clock."

Sasuke didn't say anything. He knew what Naruto meant. There were four levels that gave the adolescents different privileges: Evaluation, Awareness, Trust, and Integrity. Naruto was currently on EVAL because he'd just arrived. Each level granted an extra thirty minutes to stay up.

Naruto stared at Sasuke silently, wondering what had gotten him so upset. It was obvious Sasuke didn't like whoever this Itachi person was, but was the doctor that bad? Naruto didn't know what to say. He wanted to comfort Sasuke, but he didn't know how. It probably wasn't any of his business, but they were roommates now. He had to look out for Sasuke.

"What happened?" he asked tentatively.

At first, Sasuke had no reaction. He just continued to stare into his pillow, not saying anything. The words hadn't really registered. But when they did, he didn't know what to say. It would take too long to explain everything, and it's not like he was about to spill his entire life story to Naruto, anyway. But he had to give Naruto an answer. Finally, Sasuke replied, "My brother."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You're brother?" he exclaimed. "Wait, so you mean Doctor Itachi is...your brother?"

"Hn."

"But why would that be a bad thing?"

Sasuke glared at the pillow. "Because he killed my parents."

Naruto stared at Sasuke, horrified. "What?" he gasped. He got no answer from the Uchiha. And suddenly, Naruto felt terrible. Not for himself, but for Sasuke. His own brother... had killed his parents. Never having had parents—or siblings, for that matter—Naruto couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have that happen. But his guess was bad enough. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry, Sasuke. Why is he here?"

Sasuke laughed bitterly, rolling onto his side so he could look at Naruto. The blonde had a stricken look on his face, which proved only to anger Sasuke. "To 'take care of me,' or some shit like that."

"I don't understand," Naruto said, clear blue eyes staring directly into Sasuke's pitch black ones.

"Too bad," Sasuke snapped. "Cause I don't either."

Naruto bit his lip, trying to decide what to do. "Maybe he really does want to take care of you. I mean, maybe he cares abou—"

"No he doesn't!" Sasuke yelled. "You honestly think he cares about me? God, you're so dumb! He's putting me on Lithium, because he thinks I need to be subdued!"

Naruto's eyes flashed angrily. It wasn't his fault he didn't know the facts. He didn't know this guy's history, or how his brother felt about him. "Well maybe you do need to be subdued, you prick!" Naruto screamed. "I'm just trying to help!"

Furiously, Naruto reached up to flip off the light switch next to his bed. He settled into the covers, turning his back to Sasuke. It seemed like everyone just shunned him. Here he was, trying to help the guy, and he gets yelled at. What was wrong with him? Couldn't he just comfort one person? Couldn't he help someone when they needed him?

Naruto fell into a troubled sleep, filled with abusive step-fathers, violent gang fights, and a black-haired man with red eyes.


	3. Update Notice

Hey everyone!

I'm so sorry for not updating. I'll be honest and tell you I haven't even started the next chapter.

Finals are coming up in a couple of weeks, and my almost all my teachers assigned last-minute projects.

Needless to say, my life is hectic right now; especially because I'm trying to pull up my grades.

Also, after finals, I have a couple things I need to get done on youtube before Christmas... 4 or 5 videos to get done.

...which is A LOT!

I'll probably update my other fanfic, "Saving You," pretty soon, because I want my fanfics to be on par with each other chapter-wise.

So...an update for this fiction won't be out for another few weeks. Probably sometime after Christmas.

If I get really ambitious-or if I get enough requests-I'll get it out Christmas day.

Once again, sorry for the wait!


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